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Jose Mourinho has named Barcelona's 1-1 draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in 2009 as the biggest referee scandal in football. He claimed that the officials were biased towards the Catalan side as they wanted them to win the tournament.
Speaking to BBC, Mourinho stated that Liverpool's ghost goal win over Chelsea in the 2005 UEFA Champions League was a huge mistake, but believes that it was not the biggest scandal. He was quick to name Barcelona's draw at Chelsea as his pick and said via TBR Football:
“The ball didn’t cross the line, was not at that time goal line technology. So, anything can happen. But if you remember, and this was not with me. So I’m even more comfortable to speak, but the Chelsea, Barcelona game with Ovrebo is the biggest scandal that I’ve ever seen in the Champions League, but it happened. Who won that competition? Barcelona, not Chelsea. So all these things happen in a competition of high level like the Champions League is.”
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Barcelona had a 0-0 draw at home and went through on away goals when Andres Iniesta scored in injury time to cancel out Michael Essien's opener. The Blues had four penalty appeals brushed away by referee Tom Henning Ovrebo on the night.
UEFA referee admits to mistakes in Chelsea vs Barcelona tie
Tom Henning Ovrebo spoke to Marca in 2019 and admitted that he made several mistakes in Chelsea's 1-1 draw to Barcelona. He claimed that it was not his best day on the pitch and said via Sky Sports:
"It was not my best day really. Some days you are not at the level you should be. I can't be proud of that performance. There were several errors and everyone will have their opinion of those plays. They were handball situations. I judge them on the pitch and I think it is interesting to know what I think of those actions once judged, although I understand that people think different to the decisions I made at the time."
Barcelona went on to the final and faced Manchester United, who they beat 2-0 thanks to goals from Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi. If Chelsea had gone through, it would have been them facing the Red Devils for the second season running in the UEFA Champions League final. The 2008 final was won by Sir Alex Ferguson's side after the infamous John Terry slip during the penalty shootout.
